Jason Witten went out of his way to bash the Redskins for them claiming Reuben Foster off waivers during the 4th quarter of Eagles-Redskins.
“100% no. I think the Washington Redskins used horrendous judgment in claiming this guy. And I understand that it’s an ongoing investigation. But, my family’s been affected by domestic violence. I understand the anguish that it causes. Young players just have to understand there is no tolerance for putting your hands on a woman.”
Witten omitted that while he was with Cowboys, he handed down massive praise on Greg Hardy.
Myself and others thought that was quite hypocritical of him.
I think more than anything I think everybody knows (I’m against) domestic violence,” “That’s unwavering. That’s something that I lived, my family lived. But that guy is a teammate of mine, so I think you have to look at it from that standpoint. As coach (Jason) Garrett says, it’s our job to invite those guys in and create a standard of how we do things. I think he’s done a great job since he’s been here. It’s not my job to decide who comes in. I’m a tight end. But I’ve been really pleased how he’s approached it and how he goes to work and what kind of teammate he’s been. The day he got suspended, the next day he’s in there working out, so I think that’s kind of the mentality he has, what kind of work ethic (he has) and what he’s trying to prove in Dallas.” […]
“I think when you add the guy like that and then he gets suspended and you never know how it’s going to come out,” Witten said. “The guy works his tail off. Our job is to welcome him and show him the way we do things and embrace him as a teammate, and he’s done everything that you want. He’s a hard worker. Obviously he’s a talented player. I think he’s learned a lot from what he’s gone through in the last year. He’s had a good offseason.”
I stated that Witten had to address this contradiction and he did in a tweet directed at me.
Thanks for your opinion, Robert. Privately, I let my opinion be known and agreed to disagree. That day after practice I chose not to be divisive. Prob went too far. On Monday with platform and no longer member of a team,I spoke my mind. Would love your support w/
SCORE Foundation https://t.co/0ipiGwX1Hi— Jason Witten (@JasonWitten) December 5, 2018
First, let me say I give credit to Witten for responding he didn’t have to. With that being said he admits to what I and others had said.
He went out of his way to give praise to Hardy not because he wanted to but because the team wanted him to do it. That is a compromise of your beliefs and frankly a cover-up. He let the Cowboys know he was against it and then they sent him out there to take the heat off them and like a good soldier that is what he did.
The problem is you have to address that while you are on air. If he would said that exact quote on air there wouldn’t be an issue because he would be admitting that it is different as a teammate and that you can’t expect the Redskins players to speak up because he didn’t speak up.
It speaks to the overall hypocrisy in media, and when that happens, they have to be called out. I know Jason Witten does a lot of good work, and he experienced and witnessed domestic violence during his life, so it is a little sad that he would go to bat for something he didn’t believe in regardless if he was doing it for the team or not.
